Sonic Squad Season Two
by Coleiosis
Summary: Finally, after many months of peace on Earth and Mobius, a new evil has struck terror into the hearts of many. Only Mario, Sonic, and their friends can defeat this new villain who has threatened to take the throne of Mobius by force! Featuring a completely new hero as well! This second season of Sonic Squad is sure to be a smashing hit!
1. Death to the Royal Family

Sonic Squad

Season Two, Episode One

Death to the Royal Family

None but Cole Bezotte could have written such a tale

None but Hudson Bezotte could have edited such a story

None but Needle Kirby could have been such a cheerleader

Introduction

I'm glad you have read the second season of the Sonic Squad series. If you have not read the first season, go do it first before coming back here.

You are probably asking me how I came up with this amazing idea of Sonic Squad. Well, it all started one day when my friend was showing me this new Sonic game that he got for his Nintendo Gameboy Advance. That was actually the first time that I even knew about that super-speedy hedgehog, but I was only introduced to three characters: Sonic, Tails, and Amy Rose. The franchise looked kind of fun even though I knew nothing about Dr. Eggman at the time. Forrest and I even got some mini Sonic games with a Happy Meal at the McDonald's restaurant. But then, an idea struck me: I should bring Sonic and Mario together for the first time!

Of course, the game "Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games" was not invented back then, and the year that I thought up this whole crossover thing was 2006. I drew a picture of this awesome idea so I can remember it. However, I lost that picture, but I still remember the content that I made that stufferooni. I even through in some characters that I made up, like a few helpless penguins, yes! A penguin was a good choice for another animal to be friendly with besides hedgehogs and foxes. The hero team was settled on to be Mario, Luigi, Sonic, Tails, and Amy, and the only villain that I used for this crossover was Bowser.

Sadly, I only thought up of three ideas for this whole thing. But the good news is that I thought them all up from the time we lived in Moline, Illinois to the time we moved to Rock Island. After that, my mind just went blank and I had no more ideas for it. But, there was still hope for me. A while after we moved back to Moline (but to a different house), in May 2011, I had been amazed at the greatest Nintendo Wii game of all time: Super Smash Bros. Brawl! I thought that the styles of the action were very extravagant, so I thought of something awesome.

I had not put Dr. Eggman in until June. I had not even heard of him until I played Shadow's game for the first time. I now count him as one of the best villains I've ever known. I then began to add many other characters such as Wario, Waluigi, and finally the Knothole Freedom Fighters (who did not come in until the next year).

Before we dig into this story, I want to introduce you to two original characters of mine. Count Cobra is a murderous villain, but I don't make him as intense as Sweet Tooth from **Twisted Metal**. He is from the planet Straggo, which is close to Mobius; he was the prince who led his fellow Straggons to war against the opposing race of Corlonians. Courtney is a female from the planet Corlon, whose parents died during the war only days after she was born. Cobra found her, raised her as his apprentice, and kept her for the first fourteen to fifteen years of her life.

One day, when Courtney was ordered to kill Tails, she refused and left Cobra. That's when she found out that Cobra blew up her home planet and completely wiped out the rest of her race; she was the only Corlonian left in existence. Since that day, Courtney and Tails became close friends.

I at first designed Cobra as a black and gooey alien, but my older brother told me that he was a rip-off from the villain Venom from MARVEL comics. And so, I changed his color and made him a true alien; I gave him blue skin, no nose, blank white eyes, and messy black hair. His clothing consists of an assassin's uniform, and a cape with a hood attached. He forged his own sword for combat and killing; now he swears to use it to kill Courtney the first chance he gets.

I consider Courtney as one of the most beautiful characters I have designed. She has short fur and a head similar to Tails. She has narrow eyes, a small nose, and a soft smile. She also has short ears on top of her head. I never designed her real hands, and so I simply gave her the usual white gloves of cartoon characters (such as Mickey Mouse, Mario, or Sonic). She is a bit tall, but able to fit in her black jacket. After Courtney left Cobra, she began to wear the usual street clothes of Earth.

Another reason why I made Courtney and Tails friends is because of how they somewhat look alike. I did not realize that until after I had originally planned Courtney's first adventure. If you dare try to draw Courtney, be warned. You must give her short eyelashes in order to tell that she is a female Corlonian. That little fox Tails is only half Courtney's size; and speaking of Tails, don't make Courtney's head exactly like his. She has a shorter (and a bit flatter) head.

Please note that this story was originally planned out in May 2012 and was not fully written until August-September 2014.

That's all I need to tell you. Please enjoy the show!

Death to the Royal Family

It was an uneasy day at the Mario Bros. Plumbing Shop. Luigi was already having a rough day, having to handle everything himself. All those plungers, wrenches, and screwdrivers he made were not as good as the ones that Mario had made when the business was still up and running.

Luigi had already cut himself while building a new screwdriver. Trying very hard, he took things patiently and kept going, but he soon became nervous when Christopher Thorndyke stood at his door. He watched Luigi as he kept the business going. Luigi grew uneasy when Chris began to stand right behind him.

"You seem to be having trouble," Chris spoke up as he examined the tools Luigi made. "Is there a problem?"

"No thank you," Luigi rudely replied. "I can prove to Mario that I can do this without him."

"But don't you miss him? He had to return to the Mushroom Land and leave you behind to carry on the business. Don't you want to bring him back?"

"I wish. But if I dare step foot into the Mushroom Land, I would go crazy. The aroma that the mushrooms fill the air with makes you go nuts. You would have a giant hunger for adventure."

"That's what I have right now. I wish I could find a way to Mobius and rejoin Sonic in his adventures."

"Wait a minute! Remember that portal to Mobius you made a while ago?"

"Yep. My grandfather was the brains behind the science. I finished it for him and did the tests. I remember using it to enter Mobius six years after Sonic went back to his home. The only problem was that it decreased my age as I entered the realm. Time on Mobius goes slower than it does here on Earth; two months in Mobius means six years here. Luckily, once I got back to Earth, I was my mature self. Be careful, Luigi. If we were to do something like that again, then it would decrease YOUR age as well."

"But what about that Egg Timer that Dr. Eggman created. It brought his younger self to the present. Why don't we combine its power with the portal?"

"That sounds like an idea that might work. Where's Shadow?"

"Snoozing on the couch as usual. Go wake him up, and we can go test out that portal."

Later, Christopher led Luigi and Shadow to his mansion, where the special portal still stood in his lab. Dr. Eggman had left his Egg Timer in Chris' lab after he had used it for its purpose. Chris was able to connect the correct wires that led from the Egg Timer to the portal; perhaps it would allow him to enter Mobius and keep his current age.

"I hope this works," Chris said as the portal which led to Mobius began to open. "I set the correct coordinates for our age to stay. And yet, I still feel as if it will not work."

"Don't lose hope," Luigi replied. "We can get through this. And even if it doesn't work, wouldn't it be grand to relive the days of our youth?"

"If only puberty doesn't speed up. But that's enough talk. Let's try this." And so, bravely, the three men stepped through the portal and entered the wonderful world of Mobius.

"We're still in our current age!" Luigi exclaimed. "It worked! You're a genius!"

"If only Helen was here to see this," Chris continued. "She would surely love the beauty. But Earth is our home-sweet-home."

"Sonic shouldn't be far," Shadow spoke up. "Let's go!"

Meanwhile, a few miles away, the evil scientist Dr. Eggman became very angry over the fact that his nephew Snively Robotnik had betrayed him. Snively went back to Earth and joined the G.U.N. Forces; as a scientist building the army's weapons, he then went by the name Dr. Julian Snively, stealing his uncle's true name.

"Why didn't he use his real name Colin?" Eggman thought as he became more upset just by thinking about it. "He was named after his father, whom I had roboticized. Yes, he was my brother, but he was no better than me! I am still the greatest genius in the world! I can prove to Snively that I can finally defeat Sonic without him!"

"I don't dink so!" said a voice from out in the hall. Eggman turned to see Wario and Waluigi enter the room. "You can't do anyding widout us! We were so close to succeeding last time we joined forces."

"You two!" Eggman said, surprised. "How did you get past my guards?!"

"It was too easy," Waluigi replied. "The guards were just a couple of dumbots."

"I knew I should not have picked Scratch and Grounder to be the outdoor guards. So what is your plan?"

"We don't know yet," Wario replied to Eggman. "Dat's why we're trying to run ideas drough our brain while playing chess in da meanwhile." He and Waluigi set a chess board on the nearest table and began to play their game.

Dr. Eggman stared deep into the chess game and studied the strategy between the two competitors. "I already know everything about chess," he thought. "After all, am I not a genius with an I.Q. of 300? Perhaps this should be how I will improve my lair. I shall build a bigger fortress including a torrent on each side and two sets of robot warriors (as the knights), one on each side. And I'll have many rows of normal robot fighters as my pawns. Wario and Waluigi will be my bishops, and I shall be the king! What an inspiration this is! I must start now!"

Later, at the Knothole Village, Tails sat on his bed, thinking nervously about the idea he had not too long ago. Courtney has been hiding under his bed ever since she had left the diabolical Count Cobra; she had no place to go but here.

Tails had not told anyone about it yet. He at first thought that it would be a brilliant idea to take her in if she could take the Freedom Fighter oath. But Tails had forgotten the oath, and he could not access the private files which contained it. The correct document was locked in Sally Acorn's room, and there it would stay out of the enemy's hands.

Tails began to wait until the proper day when he would fully introduce Courtney to his fellow Freedom Fighters. Perhaps then would be when Sally would bring out the important document in which the oath was contained.

But Tails could not keep this a secret for long. That night, Sonic saw how secretive Tails has been lately, and so he came to his room. "What do want, Sonic?" Tails spoke up as Sonic entered the room.

"I just came here to wish my little bro good-night," Sonic replied as he sat down onto the bed.

Tails began to grow nervous; Courtney was directly under there, and she would be squashed if Sonic was not careful. "Please don't suffocate her!" Tails blurted out. "I'm sorry! I kept this a secret this whole time!"

"I knew something was up," Sonic replied. "You've been hiding someone here this whole time."

"Please don't tell Sally! She won't understand!"

"Hey! Quit worrying, Tails! Everything will be just fine! Your friend only needs to take the Freedom Fighter oath. Then she'll become one of us."

"But I have forgotten the oath. How will I know…"

"Relax, Tails. Sally and I will handle things. Your friend will take the oath tomorrow morning. You'll both be safe. I promise."

After Sonic said good-night and left the room, he saw Luigi, Chris, and Shadow enter the village. He was excited to see them again and rejoin forces.

"That's not all that I came here for," Luigi said as they went deeper into conversation. "I'm also looking for Mario."

"Feel like he's abandoned you, eh?" Sonic replied.

"Life at the plumbing shop is just not the same without him."

"Please come inside."

Sonic led the three men into the main dining room of the village, where at a table sat the man Luigi had searched desperately for. "Mario!" Luigi exclaimed. "How did you get here?"

"Princess Peach allowed me to leave the Mushroom Land for this particular mission," Mario explained in reply. Sonic needs my help for infiltrating Dr. Eggman's lair. Now that it's a simple lab, we can easily take him on. I'm glad you came along to join me, Luigi."

"Hey! What would I do without my little big brother?"

"I see you're still one of a kind."

Back at Dr. Eggman's lab, an intruder had broken into the private area where Eggman kept his best projects.

Eggman, Wario, and Waluigi saw who had broken in: it was the diabolical Count Cobra. "Somebody stop him!" Eggman exclaimed. "He's about to use my portal which leads to the Zone of Silence!"

"No!" Wario said. "Shoot him down!"

Cobra turned and saw the three men were about to pull out a gun. He quickly shot a pistol of his own to wound them on their shoulders; it gave him enough time to access the portal and walk straight into the Zone of Silence, where many beings were imprisoned.

Cobra first caught sight of the wizard known as Walter Naugus. He had been Dr. Eggman's mentor back in the days of the Great War on Mobius. With cat-like speed, Cobra kicked Walter's chest and pinned him down to the ground. "What do you want with me?!" Walter demanded as he lied there on the ground.

"I wish to speak to his royal majesty," Cobra replied. "Take me to him at once!"

"Are you mad?! No one may leave this void; he who leaves will be crystalized if no return is performed!"

"I am no weakling like the rest of you mortal Mobians! I am from the legendary planet known as Straggo! I demand to see the king now! I have an offer to propose to him. Dare to refuse me, you will die!"

Cobra walked through the void to find the one he had looked for. He finally found the very king of Mobius itself; he found King Maximilian Acorn. "This strange man insists on seeing you," Walter said as Maximilian gained an eyeful of Cobra.

"Silence!" Cobra snapped at Walter. "Leave us, please!" As Walter departed, Cobra began to say his piece: "Your royal highness, I come for help. If you help me, I shall give you back what is rightfully yours. I shall give you back your kingdom, your throne, and your loved ones such as your daughter. I also guarantee the revenge that you shall have upon your former friend Julian Kintobor."

"How do you know all this?" Max demanded in reply. "How do I know I can trust you?"

"I have just the correct Straggon potion that can prevent you from being crystalized. You must help me destroy one subject whom I harbor a deep, burning hatred for. The Corlonian girl Courtney was once my apprentice, and now she has betrayed me! She must be destroyed! If you help me do that, I can hand you back your kingdom, and much more to it."

"If you are willing to give me back what is rightfully mine, I demand you give me the potion now."

"Certainly," Cobra said as he handed Max a small bottle containing a white liquid. "Come! You have a destiny to fulfill."

Dr. Eggman, Wario, and Waluigi watched as Cobra easily walked out with King Max, who had already taken the potion that immediately took effect. "That blue man is a fool!" Eggman thought angrily. "He has freed my old friend, who then became my enemy! I hated how I created all those weapons for him, but they were hardly used during the Great War. He wanted to shut down my greatest works! Too bad he doesn't recognize me now. He can't tell that Julian Kintobor, Ivo Robotnik, and Dr. Eggman are all the same person."

Cobra drew out his sword and pointed it at the three mustached villains. "Give us one of your ships or you will die by my great sword!" he demanded.

Wario and Waluigi allowed Cobra and Max to pass through the halls and head for the main garage. As they went past Dr. Eggman, Max still did not recognize him at all. How things have changed a lot ever since Eggman's Doomsday Project had been destroyed, along with Robotropolis.

"Sonic may have won the first round with the Power Stones…" Eggman thought as he watched Cobra and Max leave the lab, "...and he and Christopher may have won round two with the Chaos Emeralds. But now, this is round three, and it is going to be a whole lot tougher of a challenge for him, my sworn enemy!"

Cobra and Max later arrived at the Knothole Village, where many familiar memories came to the head of he who was once the king of Mobius. "I remember this village!" he exclaimed.

"Ah, so you know this place!" Cobra replied. "Your wife had left your daughter and her fellow Freedom Fighters here years ago."

"Rosie! Is she still alive?"

"None can say. We have asked enough questions! Come! Let us find the one we seek!"

Courtney heard what was going on outside. She crawled out from under Tails' bed and looked out the window to see who once kept her as an apprentice. "Oh no!" she thought as her heart began to pound heavily.

Tails heard Courtney, and so he asked: "What is it? Who's out there?"

"The one man whom I fear," Courtney replied.

Tails looked out the window and saw who was out there. "You must mean Cobra!" he continued.

"Exactly. I don't know how he found me."

"There's nothing to fear, Courtney. My friends can help us drive him out. But who's that other guy with him? He reminds me of someone."

"See that crown on his head? He must be an authority."

"Can it be that the king has come back? SALLY!"

Cobra and max heard the commotion coming from one of the huts. "That name!" Max exclaimed. "He mentioned my daughter! I'm getting closer!"

"Closer to what?" Cobra replied.

"The daughter whom I have been separated from all these years. Now I can see her again!"

"Not until our mission is complete. I sense that Courtney is near."

Before stepping outside, Courtney gave Tails the final warning: "I'm going out to fight him alone. I'm sorry, but you can't come with me. I don't want anything happening to you."

"But I can't let you die!" Tails objected. "Can I PLEASE come with you?"

"I don't want to be responsible for your death. I need you here where you can be safe. Please, Tails. If anyone's going to make a sacrifice, it's going to be me." With that, Courtney left the hut before Tails could say anything else.

Cobra and Max watched as Courtney came out with her sword. "Attack me if you will…" she said to them, "...but you will not harm these innocent people!"

"Innocent?!" Cobra replied. "Don't make me laugh! You're just as guilty as my father!" With that, he drew out his sword and lunged at she who had once been his apprentice.

Tails watched the fight from up in his hut. His eyes widened with horror as Cobra was already gaining the upper hand. Cobra's very sharp sword cut Courtney in every way possible; Courtney tried very hard to strike back with her weapon, but she was not as skilled as she was before. Her love for the innocent and for Tails seemed to have changed her fighting abilities.

"What's wrong with her?!" Cobra thought as Courtney was brought down to her knees. "She does not remember the fighting abilities that I trained her for. This could make things easier for me. But I must let the king do the rest of the work."

Cobra made one more swing, cutting Courtney across the forehead. It caused her to stumble down to the ground, completely exhausted from the battle. "Finish her, your majesty!" Cobra commanded. "Now! Finish her!"

Cobra handed Max his sword so that he could finally end the life of Courtney here and now. Doing such an act as this would end the race of the Corlonians. Max held the sword up high, ready to plunge it down and do what Cobra had already prepared for him to do. But before he could do anything, he saw Tails run out towards Courtney.

"A two-tailed fox!" Max thought as he gently lowered the sword back down, forgetting about Courtney. "Could he be little Miles, son of Amadeus? He's grown up so fast! When he becomes the proper age, I might put him into the Acorn Council and join me and my family. Our kingdom shall come back together! And yet, now I feel as if Cobra is the REAL enemy. I just stood there, watching him slay the innocent girl without saving her. If Miles finds Courtney as his friend, then Cobra has lied to me! He would never give me back my kingdom!"

Max quickly turned around and slashed the sword at Cobra. Startled and surprised, Cobra grasped at the arm which Max cut, feeling its burning pain. "Can it be?!" he exclaimed. "My own peer is turning against me?!"

"Nay, evil one!" Max replied. "I am not your peer, and I never will be! For none can match you in such craftiness and villainy! Get out of my life, you monster!"

"So you know these Freedom Fighters!"

"Precisely! They are those who had escaped the tyranny of Julian Kintobor, who had taken over my kingdom. Now, after all these years, I shall rejoin them in hopes of bringing back my glorious kingdom!"

"You'll be sorry you betrayed me!" Cobra barked as he ran out of the village after snatching back his sword.

Max turned around and looked down at Tails and Courtney. "I am terribly sorry about your friend. I did not know that the deeds of Cobra were evil. You are what stopped me from performing such an evil act. You are the son of Amadeus Prower."

"I've never met my father my whole life," Tails replied. "And I've only seen my mother once. But my friends take care of me now. Courtney, Sonic, Sally, and others have done their best, and they still do great about it today."

"I knew I could count on my little girl! Show me to her! I must see her!"

"Sure. But I should also introduce you to some new friends."

That night, Courtney was placed in the medical room of the village, where she took the Freedom Fighter oath and became a part of the greatest Mobian fighting team. Also, Sally finally reunited with her father, and so the kingdom of Mobotropolis was soon to be rebuilt.

The next morning, Sonic called a meeting for a battle plan against Dr. Eggman's new fortress. Sally, Bunnie, Antoine, Rotor, Dulcy, Max, Tails, Mario, Amy, Shadow, and Knuckles were the only ones there to attend; Chris was busy doctoring Courtney. Sonic had to remind Max that Dr. Eggman was once the soldier known as Julian Kintobor. "Does Julian still have that crazy mustace?" Max asked as they got deeper into the conversation.

"He does," Sonic replied. "But now it's twice as big as it used to be. Wait a minute! Where's Luigi?"

Right at that moment, Luigi came running into the main room where everyone shared the battle plan. "Sorry I'm late," he said, scarred and beaten. "I was attacked by a mad cat, but now I'm here. What's the plan?"

Sonic began to explain: "Since Eggman has made himself a new fortress, this calls for a game I like to call 'Castle Conquest'. I'll lead Sally to the top, where the main control room is. That way, we can pummel Eggman while you head through the FRONT of the castle and dismantle all communications. With the main radio knocked out, the robots won't be able to receive orders from Eggman, and neither will the security cameras. After you do all that, head up to the control room and meet us there so we can finish off Eggman for good. How does that sound?"

"Sounds like how things were organized back in the days of the Great War," Max replied. "It shall be done!"

"This sounds amazing!" Luigi came in. "I'll be paired up with my bro Mario! He's been my mother my whole life!"

Offended by that statement, Mario barked in reply: "HEY!"

"Sorry! You've been my FATHER my whole life. Father, uncle, cousin, brother, EVERYBODY…"

"Do tell me," Max interrupted. "What is the true relation between you two?"

"It's a long, complicated story," Mario replied. "Anyway, while we are breaking through the front gate, I would like you to lead us, your majesty. A king rightfully leads his army in battle."

"Thank you, mister Mario. I am very grateful."

The battle began later that day after Dulcy flew everyone to Dr. Eggman's new fortress. They easily recognized the strategy Eggman was similar to a chess game, and so they were stumped at first.

Max led Bunnie, Rotor, Mario, Luigi, Shadow, Knuckles, Amy, and Tails to the front of the castle. They were easily confronted by Eggman's robots constantly running towards them. But luckily, Max had recovered some of the ancient Mobian weapons for the Freedom Fighters to use. Mario and Luigi, however, decided to go their own way and steal a couple of the robots' laser rifles.

Meanwhile, Sonic and Sally climbed up the fortress' walls to head for the control room. Sonic went up a floor and ended his climb at a much higher level than Sally. He let down a rope for her to climb up to the level where he was at. She did not see him at first when she started climbing, but she later saw him when she went up higher and higher.

Suddenly, Sally watched as Sonic pulled out a pocketknife and cut the rope she was holding onto! "Sonic!" she thought. "Why would you do something like that?!" But it was too late; she was almost there to the high level, and so it was to be a big fall. Once the rope was cut, Sally fell down off the entire castle. She landed very hard on the ground, where she became unconscious.

The others could not believe their eyes. They quickly rushed over to Sally, who was now bleeding from such a long fall. They also heard a large snap coming from her joints; some of her bones might have been broken.

"I suggest we take her back to the village now!" Mario demanded as he picked Sally up and carried her away.

After what seemed to be a half hour went by, Dr. Eggman awoke from unconsciousness. He had already battled with Sonic as it seemed, but he had also heard about what happened to Sally. "Sonic?" he thought. "He's a traitor? That's not like him. I know Sonic like I've been his parent, even though I'm really not. I know just what to do! I must go find Count Cobra!"

Back at Knothole Village, the Freedom Fighters returned with the injured Sally. They immediately brought her to Chris so he can analyze her and make sure she was not dead. And so he did, only to receive a shocking result.

"She's almost dead!" he said as he felt Sally's pulse and heartbeat. "I'll need to operate now!"

Max was very upset; he saw what happened and how Sonic betrayed Sally. "I was right!" he announced. "Sonic is unworthy to be the true love of my daughter! Therefore, I hereby send him to his death penalty!"

"No! Please no!" Tails exclaimed. "Give him another chance!"

"He does not deserve another chance!" Max replied. "He has killed my daughter! Take him away!"

With a gesture of his hand, Max summoned Geoffrey St. John to march in and bind Sonic's hands. Geoffrey did the same with Luigi and dragged him and Sonic out of the hut.

"Your majesty!" Chris exclaimed. "You are making a big mistake!"

"Mistake?!" Max replied. "The only mistake I made was trust Sonic to be a loyal Freedom Fighter!"

"BULLCRAP! He knows better than to kill his friends! He never attempted to kill me, and so I trusted him fully."

"Perhaps he has more respect for humans than for his fellow Mobians."

"I dare not argue with him," Chris thought. "He may be of high authority here on Mobius, but I'll find some way to free Sonic and Luigi. Wait a minute! Why is Luigi being taken as well?!"

Geoffrey brought Sonic and Luigi aboard his new airplane, in which he would take them to an execution arena among the remains of Mobotropolis. "Don't believe what he says," Luigi whispered to Sonic. "He's killing us just for his pleasure. I believe he's still evil, even after he managed to escape Wario's neuro brain-tapper."

"I think you're right, Luigi," Sonic replied. "I can see Eggman's emblem printed on the plane. And yet, why did everyone just let us go to our death? Why did they just stand there and not help us escape?"

"People can be idiots sometimes. But I forgive them all because they're my friends."

"You're right. We've got to find a way to break out of this mess and make things right."

Back at Knothole Village, Mario became very depressed over the fact that Luigi was to die soon. He had such a brother by his side at all times, and now they were separating for good. He did not want to yell at Max for being such an idiot, and so he kept his mouth shut for now.

Max later came over to him. "So you are worried about your friend," he said.

"He's more than a friend," Mario replied. "He's my brother. Although, he was never my brother from the start."

"What do you mean? You're both related, aren't you?"

"Not really. His real parents died when he was just a baby. And so, I raised him and took him into my family, which is a long line of plumbers. I raised him as my son and little brother. Since that day, we became the Mario Bros. and took over the plumbing business. I've had that guy with me until now; today is the day when we finally split apart. There goes my only brother, about to be put to his death sentence."

"That is strange. I do not recall ever sentencing him to death."

"But it was on your orders, wasn't it?"

"It was absolutely not on my orders. I would not sentence any random person to death. Perhaps Geoffrey is a traitor as well!"

Just then, the door broke down, and in stepped Dr. Eggman, Wario, and Waluigi. They dragged in Count Cobra, who was knocked out unconscious from a battle that had occurred not too long ago. "I never thought I would defeat a Straggon!" Eggman announced. "This is my lucky day! And now, you pesky animals, I shall finish you off and put an end to your rebellion!"

"I don't know who you are…" Max replied bravely, "…but you stand face-to-face with the king of Mobius!"

"Those are brave words, Max. But do you even know who I am? I am the man whose weapons you removed! You were planning to destroy all my greatest works, and so I took revenge! I created my new Robotropolis! I am Julian Ivo Kintobor!" To give proof, Eggman took off his glasses and revealed his black-and-red-glowing eyes.

"Julian! It is truly you! Now is my chance to take back what is rightfully mine!" With that, Max drew the sword Cobra gave him and charged straight at Eggman.

Dropping Cobra to the floor, Eggman took out the lance from a robot minion of his and began to attack Max.

"Your skills are the same as when I last saw you, Julian!" Max said as they fought on.

"Yes, I remember the days of the Great War," Eggman replied. "But you have been in the void for too long, you're starting to lose your strength. You haven't fought as much as I last saw you!"

Many more times their swords clashed together, with both combatants trying to gain the upper and win the battle. Who would be the champion of this fight?

Mario looked behind him and saw that Cobra had a chance to sneak away from the battle. "They'll never know how it really happened," Cobra thought as he dashed outside.

Mario had to warn Max and tell him that Cobra was the real culprit of the incident. "Go, your majesty!" he said as he jumped in front of Eggman. "I'll hold this guy off! Cobra might be the real brains behind Sonic's so-called betrayal!"

"That murderer!" Max thought as he went off to search for Cobra. "He cannot go unpunished! I should have sentenced HIM to death! I must go find him."

Max went outside the hut to find Cobra running out of the village. He was not able to make it out, thanks to Bunnie stretching out her robotic arm and tripping him to the ground. "That rabbit!" Max thought as he ran over to Cobra. "I remember when her mother was part of the council! It seems like the good old days keep coming back to me!"

Max fully approached Cobra, ready to question him about the real case of the incident. "You're not going anywhere without giving me the answers I need!" he said. "Now tell me! What have you been up to!"

Cobra could not try to escape; if he dared do it again, Bunnie would attack once more. "Fine!" he said. "I now see that further resistance is useless."

"He's all yours, sugar!" Bunnie said as she headed up to the village's limits, guarding the exit.

"I will tell all that happened," Cobra explained. "After you failed to kill Courtney, I had my revenge. But I had to do it on your daughter when you would least expect something like that to happen. I made arrangements with Geoffrey St. John and Hershey the cat; I told them that I would pay them fully if they would assassinate your daughter for me. And so, Hershey disguised herself as Sonic and went up to the top of Julian's fortress. The REAL Sonic was battling Julian at the time; he had already made it to the control room. And so, when you would be fooled, thinking that the real Sonic had killed your daughter, Geoffrey would come in and take him away along with that plumber Luigi.

"But my victory was not easily earned," Cobra continued. "Julian came along and defeated me in battle. He brought me here to show that he would soon become the next king of Mobius."

"So you set this up from the start!" Max replied. "What have I done?! Sonic and Luigi must not die!"

And indeed Sonic and Luigi had to find a way to escape their death sentence. Once Geoffrey brought them over to a ruined part of Robotropolis, he was ready to exterminate them. "Now you are completely doomed!" he said as he pulled out a spear, ready to hurl it at them. "You killed the one I love, and so you must pay the price!"

"Don't say that!" Luigi replied. "You're lying to us! The king has been cheated and lied to! Also, Sally has a right to say whom she truly loves! And that man is Sonic!"

"Thanks, Luigi," Sonic said. "Spoken like a man!"

"Enough talk!" Geoffrey barked. "Cobra has paid me enough to do this! He told me Sally was a traitor, and so I fell in love with Hershey. We thought that Sally deserved that death, and so it would be our ticket to ruling this planet!"

"I wouldn't bet on that!" Sonic replied. He began to run around in circles with his very fast speed, chanting: "Up, over, and gone!"

The whirlwind that Sonic created with his speed was powerful enough to blow the spear out of Geoffrey's hand. Sonic was also taking some of the oxygen out of the whirlwind so Geoffrey could not breathe. Geoffrey began to choke and wheeze, begging for air. This gave Luigi the opportunity to use the spear to cut the ropes that bound his hands. He then aimed it straight at Geoffrey, ready to throw it and end the evil skunk's life.

Sonic stopped running so that Luigi could throw better without hitting Sonic while running. Luigi thrust the sharp weapon forward and made it hit Geoffrey's side. Geoffrey St. John had died after living a life of lust and desire.

"Perhaps that was too morbid of a death for him," Luigi said as he looked down at Geoffrey's corpse. "Another voice in my head is saying that he might have deserved that."

"We won't know for sure," Sonic replied. "But the village needs our help. Cobra might strike any minute… or maybe Eggman."

"But whoever it is, we have the power to handle it. So how do we get back to the village from here?"

"Hang on tight, Luigi. Because this is going to get really fast. You're about to experience the feeling of way past cool!" Luigi climbed onto Sonic's back and held on as Sonic ran very fast, heading back to the Knothole Village.

Back at the village, Cobra had finally issued a battle with the king himself. He drew out his sword and prepared himself for a duel.

Max took out his sword as well and was ready to fight. "If you will not abandon your deadly plan…" he said, "…then the king of Mobius will destroy you without mercy!"

"You underestimate the power of Straggo!" Cobra replied as he lunged himself at Max. The two combatants had now struck up a sword fight, blade clashing into blade. It perhaps was never going to stop; no one seemed to be exhausted. No one would rest until one's revenge would be fulfilled.

"What are you planning?" Max asked as they fought on.

"I wish to prove to my father that I am a worthy son!" Cobra replied. "He is nothing but a heartless man who only cares about himself! Because I had triggered the war between the Straggons and Corlonians early, he exiled me here to Mobius! You remind me of my selfish and greedy father! You only care about your desires, such as whom your daughter should marry. That is why I wanted to kill her; I wanted to steal the throne of Mobius and rule this land! I lied to you about giving you back your kingdom! I wanted to rule this planet and start a war against my father!"

"That gives you no right to take revenge! You are heartless yourself!"

Cobra ran towards a coffin placed next to a nearby tree. It was where Sally lied, her eyes refusing to open and wake up. Max had the idea of throwing his sword at Cobra, but something else happened. Sonic and Luigi had made it back to the village, and so they knocked Cobra out unconscious. Max ordered that he be executed immediately, and so Bunnie dragged him out of sight.

"I hoped you two would return safely!" Max exclaimed in joy as Sonic and Luigi fully approached him. "I am terribly sorry you were put into this mess."

"Think nothing of it," Sonic replied. "It's all thanks to Luigi here for exposing Geoffrey of his plan."

"But I still think that I gave Geoffrey a brutal end," Luigi interrupted.

"Never mind Geoffrey," Max replied to Luigi. "He is no longer one of us. And now, it's time to finish off Julian!"

Meanwhile, Mario and the others were putting the finishing touches to the battle up in the hut. This gave Christopher the chance to finally attack at Eggman. "Not for nothing am I a black belt in karate," he said as he took off his lab coat. "I'll give the best I can."

Dr. Eggman turned around, confused about the many enemies hurling at him. He went completely dizzy as Chris came forward and struck him on the head. He fell down to the floor, then was immediately tied up along with Wario and Waluigi.

"I bet your old friend will be willing to ask you so many questions about this incident," Mario taunted at the tied trio.

"Max is not my friend anymore," Eggman replied. "But I assure you I won't be captured for long! I'll have my revenge on that hedgehog one way or another!"

After the battle was finally over, Knuckles, Shadow and Christopher had discovered some incredible evidence about Cobra's attack. They informed Sonic immediately and told him the news. "We want you to know that there is still hope for your brave friend," Knuckles spoke up, being the first to say what happened.

"Sally is still alive?" Sonic replied.

"She is merely in a coma," Chris came in.

"He's going to be alright," Shadow added. "He survived that fall only because her body is pliant, not a resistant armor like Eggman's robots."

Sonic walked out of the hut and went towards the tree where Sally's coffin was kept. He opened the lid to see the slumbering body of the one he loves. He bent down to kiss her on the head. "Please come back, Sally!" he whispered. "I need you!"

Sally finally opened her eyes and heard what Sonic had said. She was still alive. "Sonic!" she whimpered. "Then it wasn't you…"

"I would never betray any of my friends," Sonic replied. "Especially you. You're the one I love the most."

"I knew it! I knew all the time that you truly love me! I give you this promise that we will always stay together forever!"

And so, the final arrangements for Eggman's imprisonment were settled, and Courtney became completely healed.

Christopher's portal opened up for him to enter Earth with Mario, Luigi, and Shadow. Before saying the last good-byes, Max had an idea. He summoned Sonic, Luigi, and Mario to kneel before him. He drew out his sword and gently touched it on each of their shoulders. "I now dub thee Sir Sonic, Sir Luigi, and Sir Mario!" he announced. "Rise, my friends!"

"Thank you for the generous offer," Mario replied. "But we don't live here. Earth is where Luigi and I belong."

"But perhaps we can come here again sometime," Luigi said.

"Of course, my friends," Max replied. "We may yet have another adventure."

After everyone had said good-bye, Mario, Luigi, Shadow, and Chris entered the portal and transported to Earth, their true home.

"If another Straggon was to threaten our land…" Max thought as he watched them go back home, "…not all the swords in the universe can defeat him. But together, as a kingdom reunited, we are invincible!"


	2. Chaos War

Sonic Squad

Season Two, Episode Two

Chaos War

Plotted and written by Cole Bezotte (author of "Zangief's Big Day")

Approved by Forrest Bezotte (author of "Legolas and Tauriel")

It was a very peaceful day at the Mushroom Kingdom, especially a day for Mario and Luigi to be doing who-knows-what.

As they both walked through the gate to the friendly village, they began to talk to their hearts' content. "Nice of the princess to invite us to a picnic, eh Luigi?" Mario started.

"I hope she made lots of spaghetti!" Luigi replied, eager for his favorite meal.

Suddenly, something from the distance caught Mario's eye. "Luigi!" he said as he pointed out to a piece of paper nailed to a nearby tree. "Look!" He went over to the paper and tore it from the nail that held it to the tree. "It's from King Acorn! He needs us back at Mobius immediately!"

"Then what are we waiting for?" Luigi said. "Let's get going! That Cobra creep probably escaped from prison."

Luigi was closer to the truth than he suspected. He, Mario, and Shadow once again used the portal to enter the peaceful realm of Mobius. Once they were there, they noticed that King Maximilian's kingdom of Mobotropolis was coming back together. It was becoming just like it was before the Great War; the kingdom was being completely repaired.

Later, after walking through Mobotropolis' courtyard, Mario lined up with Luigi and Sonic in front of King Max himself, awaiting what was to be said.

"I am glad you three have arrived just as ordered," Max spoke up, "and on time as well. I have some very shocking news: Julian Kintobor, or Dr. Eggman as you call him, has escaped this castle's prison. I know this because of someone informing me about newly-designed robots marching this way. Only Julian could create such monstrous machines."

"We would know if it really was him if a robot has the Eggman emblem on his arm," Sonic replied.

"That is true. We will have to see for ourselves. Anyway, we must go out and search for Julian immediately!"

"Another battle against Eggman, eh?" Luigi said. "This keeps getting better!"

"Don't get too far ahead of yourself, Luigi," Mario replied. "If Eggman's making such advanced machinery, he would make money off of them as well. And remember, if you pinch Eggman's pennies, they pinch back."

As the Freedom Fighters prepared for their battle against Dr. Eggman, someone came and frantically interrupted. A fellow duck, Dr. Quack, came bursting in, shouting: "Your majesty! It's horrible! Cobra has escaped!"

"First Julian, and now Cobra?!" Max replied.

"He has killed many innocent people! He's slaughtering them all as he goes along!"

"You all wait here! I must go and stop Cobra before he turns this restored kingdom into a bloodbath!" With that, Max took his sword and ran out into the courtyard, chasing after Count Cobra, who had indeed escaped from what seemed like his eternity.

It took only one look at the courtyard to see so many bleeding bodies dragged across the ground. Cobra certainly had gone berserk after he had seized his sword from the prison guard who kept it safe from anyone else's reach.

Max went to the main gate of Mobotropolis and saw the man who caused all the chaos. It was indeed Count Cobra, in the flesh, standing on top of the gate. He stood there silently, not moving at all, but breathing heavily out of anger.

"There you are, evil one!" Max shouted up to him as he drew out his sword. "You are to either surrender peacefully or die once and for all! You have already caused so much death and destruction in our realm, and I will no longer tolerate it!"

Cobra did not reply at first, but he then spoke after ten seconds went by. "Nobody knows me!" he hissed. "I, Count Cobra, prince of Straggo and warlord, shall build my new kingdom here. I shall lead my mechanical army to destroy all life on this pathetic planet!"

"Wait a minute!" Max thought. "Julian actually has nothing to do with this at all! COBRA created those robots, and he plans to use them against my kingdom!"

Cobra quickly leapt off the gate he was standing on and started running throughout the nearby forest. One of the gate's doors came crashing down due to Cobra pushing it back while jumping off it. It was about to fall onto Max and squash him, but Sonic came zooming right in to push him out of the way just in time. The door crashed to the ground and shattered into many chunks of dry stone.

"Are you okay?" Sonic asked Max as he stood him back up properly. "Cobra was here, wasn't he?"

"He wants to wage war against us!" Max replied. "And if it's a war he wants, he shall have it!"

Over a week later, King Max organized everything needed for the new Chaos War. The first battle was to take place on the well-known Angel Island, where the Master Emerald was kept. Cobra wished to obtain the Master Emerald and keep its unlimited power to himself.

At the Knothole Village, Max chose who were to help him in this battle at Angel Island. He picked mainly the ones mature enough to fight in this very harsh battle, leaving out the inexperienced and young. Tails became disappointed when he was not accepted into this battle.

"You're too young to be into this stuff, Tails," Sonic told him after hearing him say how unfair it was. "As your friends, we wouldn't want you seeing this bloodshed. Even YOU might die out there. As Freedom Fighters, we are willing to give our lives to save our planet."

"I'd say the same thing too," Tails replied. "But why are you keeping ME out if I am a Freedom Fighter too?"

"You have not lived a full life."

"But neither have YOU!"

Sonic sighed; he wanted to end this useless argument. "We'll talk about this another time. I better get going."

Everyone soon left the hut, leaving Tails standing exactly where he was before it was all agreed. Courtney came over and saw what had happened; she knew that Tails could not go, and so she decided to stay behind and keep him safe.

"I decided not to go for a good reason," Courtney said to him after hearing him complain. "I just don't want to lose you. The same goes with the others; they don't want to see you die out there."

"That is true," Tails replied. "But I don't want to see THEM die as well! Even now, Sonic might need me!" Tears began to spring from his eyes as he thought of such a horrible thing. "That's why I want to go out there and help defeat Cobra once and for all!"

"You can't go out there!" Courtney protested. "You'll get yourself killed!"

"I don't care what the cost is! I just want to save Sonic from your worst enemy!"

"I know Cobra is my worst enemy, but this is important! You're my dearest friend! If anything should happen to you…"

"Just think!" Tails interrupted. "We can both win the war together so easily by defeating Cobra. After all, his main target is ME, not you. He wants revenge on me for turning you against him. Together, we can take him out so that he won't have to bother us again!"

"That is true…" Courtney replied. "It may sound tempting, but are you sure it will work?"

"I'm sure it will! Come on! Let's head to my plane!"

At Angel Island, things were already getting intense. Many canons blasted their bombs into the air. Explosions clouded the sky, hardly a thing could be seen through the thick black smoke and the heavy snow. Many bodies and mechanical parts lied all over the ground, but many other soldiers were still eager to fight on and win the war.

Sonic and his friends were still alive while the fight went on. They breathed heavily from exhaustion and cold; they could not take it any longer. But Sonic, Max, and others encouraged them to keep on fighting if they wanted to survive this war and receive the victory they crave.

Max, Mario, Luigi, and Sonic were stationed in the specific area near the temple, where Cobra oversaw the battle. He did not plan to run out and fight until his desired time. The four knights who came to infiltrate the temple were garbed in very heavy winter armor; they could hardly be recognized, but at least they still kept track of each other.

They all watched as black smoke began to billow from inside the temple. There was definitely something going on inside. "This is it, Luigi!" Mario shouted over the heavy snow and wind. "Remember: where there's smoke…"

"There's fire!" Luigi finished the saying.

"But we cannot get in without the proper enemy access!" Max reminded.

"I still have some of Geoffrey's blood in my water bottle!" Luigi replied. "Maybe it could work!"

Mario protested and said: "I've got two words for you Luigi: IM-POSSIBLE!"

"Nothing's impossible, Mario! Improbable…unlikely…but NEVER impossible!"

But right when they were going to march right in, Sonic saw something fly up above their heads. It was Tails and Courtney flying the Tornado, Tails' best plane. "What the heck are they doing here?!" Sonic thought. "I told them to stay behind, but they completely disobeyed orders!"

But Max did not notice Tails and Courtney landing behind the temple. Instead, he carried on with the orders: "I hear Cobra has hired a new assassin to do some of his deeds! Be on the lookout for him! We may never know when he comes out!"

"Perhaps…" Sonic thought to himself, "…if I can defeat that assassin, Tails will be safe. But there is still Cobra to worry about. I must defeat him before anything happens to my little buddy!" With that, he rushed right into the temple, searching for what could be his newest foe.

Later, Tails and Courtney safely made it inside the temple, ready to head straight to Cobra and defeat him. But first, Tails saw how dizzy Courtney felt after that wild ride on the plane. "Sorry about the way I drove," Tails said to her. "I promise I won't be that wild next time."

Right when he was about to step into the temple's rear entrance, Courtney stopped him in his tracks. "If you want to think twice about doing this…" she said to him, "…now would be the time."

"Don't worry about anything," Tails replied. "We can win this together!"

Tails continued to walk along what seemed like the correct hallway to the main control center. Courtney stealthily followed behind, making sure that the coast is clear before moving on. After about three minutes of slowly exploring the halls, someone finally approached them. Courtney heard heavy footsteps coming their way, and so she quickly dove down and pushed Tails out of the way of sudden gunfire. "Look out!" she exclaimed as she brought Tails down to the floor.

In stepped a man in bulky silver armor, his hands equipped with double chain-guns, and his face disguised with a black mask. And on that mask bore the symbol of the planet Straggo; this was definitely Cobra's doing.

Cobra himself walked right in to meet the two intruders that had infiltrated his fortress. "It seems we have some unexpected visitors!" he spoke up. "Miles Prower, I have always hated you ever since that day I brought back the king. Now is my chance to finally put an end to all the misery you've caused!"

"I haven't caused ANY misery!" Tails barked at Cobra. "YOU'RE the one who ruined our lives! I will not let you touch Courtney!"

"Don't be so sure about it! You have no weapon, but I have my own ideas!" With that, Cobra moved as swift as a fox and drew out his sword. That was his signal for his assassin to keep Courtney occupied. The armored assassin reached out, grabbed Courtney, and squeezed her really tightly.

As Courtney was being strangled, she became very dizzy again. She could not think straight, and so she could not see what was going on between Cobra and Tails. Suddenly, the assassin felt himself being blown backwards by some mysterious invisible force. Courtney somehow broke himself free of the assassin's grasp.

(Note from the author: I shall soon reveal what mysterious powers Courtney possesses.)

After Courtney broke herself free, she went back to seeing what had happened to Tails. It took her only one look to catch sight of a nasty surprise. Cobra had already beaten Tails up very hard; Courtney could not really recognize Tails at first. Tails' arm had a hideous bite mark, his right eye now black and swollen and with a red scar across. His face bore many bruises and bleeding marks.

Tails could no longer stand to his feet; he lied down hopelessly on the floor, severely battered. Cobra knelt down to him and placed the palm of his hand to the injured fox's forehead. Tails suddenly rose up to his feet and turned around to face Courtney. His fur slowly changed from yellow to a brownish-orange. His eyes were now a reddish-orange. He was now very angry as a consuming, burning, raging hatred grew wild inside his brain. "Courtney…" he hissed evilly, "…I HATE YOU!"

"Well said!" Cobra said, smiling as he watched Courtney's shocked and hurt expression. "Like the rules of Straggo say, 'those who betray the master will be punished by eternal death'! And so, Miles Prower, destroy Courtney!"

**TO BE CONTINUED!**


	3. Thrillers of Killers

Sonic Squad

Season Two, Episode Three

Thrillers of Killers

By Cole Bezotte

Right when Tails had said those hurtful words, Courtney felt her pounding heart being torn apart. She could not believe what she had just heard; Tails, her closest, most dearest friend, said that he hated her. Tears immediately began to stream from her eyes; her eyes became blurred, and so she could not bear to look at what Tails had become.

"It all ends here, old friend," Count Cobra said to Courtney as he pointed at her. "Miles Prower… KILL!"

Following Cobra's diabolical order, Tails lunged out at Courtney. He went straight for her neck and began choking her. Courtney used her mysterious power to blow him off of her. She coughed and wheezed miserably as she tried to regain her breath.

(Note from the author: I still promise to reveal to you her power. Just wait until the proper time.)

"What is wrong with him?!" Courtney thought. "What has happened to the best friend I've ever had? Have I finally lost him?"

As Tails continued to attack at Courtney, Cobra rushed over to his assassin, who was adjusting the weapons built into his mechanical arm. "Hurry!" Cobra told him. "There are intruders in here, and I want them obliterated! Go and slay them!"

Obeying Cobra's command, the assassin hurried off to the front of the temple. Once he arrived, he found King Max, Sonic, Luigi, and Mario destroying Cobra's combat robots. The assassin had the good guys right in his sights, and so he pulled out his double chain-guns and began to fire rapidly at them.

Max and the others noticed the assassin, and so they quickly dodged every bullet being hurled at them. "Take cover!" Max exclaimed as he led the other three down the hall.

The assassin ran after them, and he was right on their heels. He ran faster than them; he was so close to Sonic, he could touch him. "You can't hide from me!" the assassin roared behind his mask in a hissy voice.

He was just about to reach out and grab Sonic's arm; but right when he did, Sonic zoomed with his very fast speed and wrenched himself away. Mario and Max both turned to the left hall while Luigi turned to the right; this gave Sonic enough room to speed ahead, then quickly turn back around to attack at the assassin.

After that big blow, Sonic stood to his feet to take a good look at the assassin. This killer looked awfully familiar to him; perhaps he resembled somebody from the past. Sonic stared deep into his eyes and noticed a gleam that nobody could forget. "Are you…?!" Sonic started, but was soon interrupted by a powerful return blow by the killer.

"Do not underestimate me, hedgehog!" the assassin spoke. "I am far more superior than you think I am!"

"Don't get in over your head, Christopher!" Sonic replied.

The assassin stopped after he heard that name; he did not move a muscle. He was very speechless; he did not say a word after hearing what Sonic called him. But he then had to think of a lie in order to break the silence and keep the fight going. "I…" he stuttered, "…I don't know what you mean."

"Don't lie to me, Chris!" Sonic replied. "I know you are Christopher Thorndyke, and I will prove it!" With that, Sonic ran past the assassin, taking off the strange mask in the process. Christopher's true face was revealed; it really was him behind the mask. "I knew it was you all along, Chris!" Sonic continued as he tossed the torn mask aside. "Why are you doing this to us?! Why would you want to kill us?!"

Chris' face was scarred, unshaven, and beaten. Cobra did this to him as he placed him under his spell of evil. Cobra had poisoned Chris' mind to become his assassin. Chris' identity was now revealed, but his mind was still under Cobra's powerful spell; he had still had a mind of evil.

Sonic came at Chris again, but Chris quickly turned his leg around to trip Sonic up. He made his move so fast, Sonic easily tripped on his leg and stumbled onto the floor. "He is fast," Sonic thought as he got back up to his feet. "But hopefully, I can bring him back to his senses."

Sonic ran straight back to Chris and tried to throw him off balance. But that backfired as well as the previous move; Chris quickly slipped out of Sonic's way and kicked him back down to the floor. Sonic did not think that he would be able to bring Chris back to his senses… that is until help finally came.

Luigi suddenly came back and gave Chris a big punch on the back of the head. "Chris…" he said as he made the blow, "…if you're in there, I'm sorry I have to do this!" Chris was pushed down to the floor, hitting his head hard as he landed.

Struggling to get back up to his feet, Chris placed the palm of his hand to his dizzy head. His mind had been cured from Luigi's blow; he could think and react like his normal self again. "What…happened?" he said as he went back to his feet. "I feel very strange."

"That's what we were gonna ask YOU, buddy," Sonic replied. "Did Cobra put you under a spell or something?"

"I do remember him doing that. Right before I was going to activate my portal, Cobra grabbed me and pulled me here into Mobius. I remember him placing the palm of his hand onto my forehead, placing me under his spell. I recall him roboticizing half of me, adding to his spell. I don't know how he got his hands on the Roboticizer, but he did it."

"Don't worry, Chris," Luigi said after hearing Chris' reason. "We'll bring you back to your normal look in no time. First we need to win this battle and defeat Cobra in his war game."

Max came forward and added: "We can use your new fighting abilities, Thorndyke. They are very useful."

"But they will only be that way until I get de-roboticized," Chris replied. "I will use these fighting abilities until this battle is over."

Right then, Sonic finally remembered something. "Wait a minute!" he said. "What about Tails? I told him not to come here! We better go find him!"

Meanwhile, Tails continued to beat Courtney senselessly. He did more than just hurt her physically; he also hurt her feelings very hard. The more he hit her, the more her bruises showed. But it hurt her feelings more than it hurt her physical wounded body.

Courtney used her powers to push Tails away again; but every time she did it, he kept coming right back to her. She finally decided to give Tails a blow that can help take away Cobra's spell. "I really hate to hurt him…" she thought, "…but I must do it. It will be better than having an evil friend. I don't want Tails to do this to me, and so this is the only way to stop him."

Just as she promised herself, Courtney made her move. Before Tails could attack at her again, she grabbed hold of his head and slammed him onto the floor. Tails received a large bump on his head as he stood up again. But Courtney's trick did not work at all; he was still evil. "Why didn't it work?!" she thought. "He's still insane! Perhaps I can get that spell out of him with my powers."

(Note from the author: Now I can spill the secret of Courtney's power.)

Courtney closed her eyes and concentrated very hard. Tails suddenly felt himself levitating up off the ground, floating in midair. Courtney was using her powers of levitation on Tails, using her mind to control it all. She used her powers to push Tails against the wall, then continued to push him even harder. Tails struggled to free himself, but he could not free himself from Courtney's gravitational push. Finally, with one more push, Courtney finally pushed the spell out of Tails' head. Tails was normal again, and so Courtney let him down to the floor.

But Tails could not stand up; in fact, he could hardly breathe. His fur was a yucky yellow from the beating that Cobra gave him; he was still bleeding, mostly on the face. Courtney thought he was dead from the way he looked. "Tails!" she whimpered to him as she knelt down to try and shake him to wake up. "Tails, wake up! Tails!" But Tails did not answer; he did not move a muscle. Tears again began to stream from Courtney's eyes; she thought she had lost her friend forever.

Meanwhile, Max and the others finally found the control room of the base; now they were going to destroy all controls and blow up the center of the temple. The only problem was that they forgot to bring bombs with them, so it all seemed pretty hopeless. But Chris had an idea: he still had a built-in time bomb in his mechanical arm. He quickly planted it on the master computer, then he signaled everyone else to evacuate immediately.

After the desired time expired, the bomb exploded and blew up the main computer. But the fire was so strong that it spread to all the other systems and destroyed THEM too. "That ought to wrap things up!" Sonic said as he watched the explosion. "We've won!"

"But wait!" Max interrupted. "Where is Cobra? He escaped!"

Chris looked behind him to see if Cobra was still where he was before. He was not. "I just turned away for a minute," Chris muttered. "But I have a feeling we have not seen the last of him."

"Say…" Luigi said to him, "…weren't you with someone else before getting here?"

"That's right!" Chris replied as he finally realized what he had done. "I just saw what Cobra was doing earlier… he was commanding Tails to attack Courtney!"

"What?!" Sonic exclaimed. With that thought torturing his mind, he sped off down the hallways to go look for Tails and Courtney. But no matter where he ran, he could not find what he was looking for.

Finally, he reached the rear entrance of the temple, where he found Courtney carrying the injured Tails. "Tails!" Sonic exclaimed. "What happened to you?!"

Courtney had to tell the story about what had happened. Tears stained her face the entire time she told everything. By the time she finished, Max and the others had caught up with Sonic. Mario took one good look at Tails as he felt his heartbeat. "He's still alive," Mario said as he carried him. "Chris and I will take him back to Mobotropolis; we'll do all that we can there."

"Are you sure he'll remain alive?" Courtney asked Mario, doubting his word.

"I'll have you know that my kingdom has the best-trained medics and most effective medicines," Max interrupted to answer.

Luigi hopped into Tails' plane, the tornado, and started the engines. "I'll fly this back to the village," he said. "I'll keep it safe from any thief's hands."

Soon, Tails woke up and found himself back at Mobotropolis. He was placed on a cot in a hospital room. Next to him, Mario and Chris went to work creating the antidote for his sickness. He was already bandaged in certain areas, mostly the head, but his blood still stained most of his fur.

Mario noticed that Chris had put the wrong chemical in the mixture for the antidote. "What seems to be ailing you, man?" he told him as he poured the incorrect mixture down a sink's drain.

"I just can't think straight," Chris answered in reply. "It must be my half-robotic head; my brain isn't functioning properly."

"Why don't you go home and figure out how to de-roboticize yourself. I'll go get Professor Elvin Gadd. Luigi tells me that he is one of the best scientists ever known. Perhaps HE can help create the solution."

Mario put on his coat and left with Chris, leaving Courtney behind to keep watch on Tails. Everything was quiet and very still, mostly because of Tails' very light breathing. To break the silence, Courtney finally spoke to him: "I'm sorry all this had to happen. I know it wasn't all your fault, but I still forgive you for attacking me."

Tails did not answer at all. He still lied on his cot silently, but he was awake. His lungs must not have worked properly, which may have been the reason why he could not speak. But suddenly, Courtney heard a sound coming from him. Tails began to wheeze and cough hard. He was coughing up blood, which made a mess on his cot.

Quickly and desperately, Courtney grabbed Tails and carried him out of the room and into the hallway. Arched over her shoulder, he continued to cough as his spilling blood ran down her shoulder. It seemed as though he could never stop at all.

"Tails!" Courtney exclaimed as she tried to shake him to stop. "Tails! Stop it!"

Tails finally stopped his coughing. But then, tears were now streaming down his face. He began to cry hard; he could no longer take any of this pain. He was desperate for it to stop, but it would still take a long while until he would be his normal self again.

**NEXT TIME: MORE FOXES, MORE MARIO CHARACTERS, AND MORE OF COBRA'S SCHEMES!**


	4. Cold Blood

Sonic Squad

Season Two, Episode Four

Cold Blood

By Cole Bezotte

It had been about a week since Tails was hospitalized. He never spoke a single word while he was in this unfit condition. Courtney always stayed by his side every single day without leaving to go back to Knothole Village where she was at first kept by Tails. Not a day went by when she would leave his side; she never wanted to leave until he was all better and fully healed.

One day, as Dr. Mario and Professor Elvin Gadd were on duty that day, they had made an astonishing discovery. As Elvin inspected Tails, he placed his own hand to the fox's chest. Tails was breathing, but he was doing it much slower than he normally did. Elvin placed his ear to Tails' head, and he heard how hard he was breathing; it seemed like he was dying.

"This little fellow is not in proper condition," Elvin exclaimed as he faced Mario. "We will need to correctly clean his lungs."

"I see what you mean," Mario replied, holding an x-ray photo of Tails' lungs. "I see some kind of poison in there. We need to take it out so he can breathe enough to live." He turned to Courtney and asked her to leave the room so they can privately perform the operation. "Sorry, Courtney, but you'll have to leave. We don't want you seeing such a nasty piece of work."

"Is there any hope for him to get better?" Courtney asked in reply.

"Of course! After we clear his lungs, he'll be better in no time."

Courtney took one last look at Tails before she left. She hoped that this would not be the last time she would ever see him. With no choice left, she exited the room. Before walking down the hallway, Courtney put her ear to the closed door and overheard the conversation between Mario and Elvin.

"I hope this doesn't get too dramatic," Mario said as he put on his surgical mask.

"It's like one of them medical drama movies where the doctors overdo everything they say," Elvin replied.

"It's been one of those days. Why don't we call Luigi and bring him over to help us? He's been taking medical practices lately."

That was all Courtney wanted to hear before she went down the hallway and left the hospital.

Later, the surgery went on throughout the hours of the days, Courtney walked outside the limits of Knothole Village. She was still worried about what might happen to Tails, and so she could not keep her mind off of him. Suddenly, a soft noise made her turn; she turned to see a short blue fox (about the same size as Tails) standing right in front of her.

"Hello there!" the fox spoke up, smiling softly and waving. "My name is Comet Prower, and I have a message for your friend."

Courtney watched as Comet pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. "How nice of him to introduce himself," she thought. "Maybe he's here to help. He looks an awful lot like Tails, but this one here is blue and has only one tail. Perhaps I should show him to Tails; that will prove that he is not alone. There are still other foxes that still live on Mobius!"

But when Comet pulled out his message to read it to Courtney, he got a nasty surprise. The letter was not only crumpled, but it was also very difficult to read. The ink was smudged all over the paper, as well as scribbling over the words. Comet felt really embarrassed by this, but he knew that he should not fail his mission. He had to say what the message said by memory. "Oops!" he said as the paper blew away from his hands. "That's okay; I already know what it says."

"You do?" Courtney asked him.

"Of course! My friend wrote it, and he sent me here to deliver it. But it says that our friend Natalie is out hunting for a cure for Straggon poison. It is said to be very effective and should be taken quickly. After your friend is cured from the disease, our other friend Bronze will make him a nice hot soup to make him feel all better. We will do this quickly so that there is no hope lost."

"So there's no need for an operation?"

"You can keep that going while we find the correct plant to cure him. But we must do it quickly, or else your friend will die soon. Quickly spread the word to his doctors, then meet Natalie at the Oak Forest."

"Okay, I will. Thanks." Courtney waved good-bye as she hurried back to the hospital.

Later, Mario and Elvin received a note from Courtney that slipped under the operating room's door. Courtney had informed them about the real antidote for the sickness. "This is ridiculous!" Mario exclaimed as he showed Elvin and Luigi the letter. "This means we'll have to pause for long hours in this operation we just started! Tails will never make it alive at this rate!"

"Quit your worrying, Mario!" Luigi replied. "I just know that Tails will make it safely! Just as long as Courtney gets that cure soon enough."

"I'll give you two words Luigi: im-possible!"

"Nothing's impossible, Mario. Improbable, unlikely, but NEVER impossible."

"Then I guess we have no choice but to wait. In the meantime, we must keep Tails' heart beating until Courtney arrives with the antidote."

While Mario had read the note, Comet led Courtney to a mysterious-looking jungle hut, where they would meet their guide to the cure. Courtney walked inside the wooden hut and immediately looked around; many furs and skins of hunted earth animals hung on the walls. One of them, a zebra's fur, was used as a floor carpet. On top of that stood a rusted table, where two female figures sat. One of them was a female fox in a jungle hiker's uniform; she was the one known as Natalie. The other was none other than Sticks the jungle badger; she had agreed to help Courtney and Natalie on this journey.

Comet introduced Courtney to Sticks and Natalie, getting them to know each other better. "Sorry Bronze is not here right now," he said after they all greeted each other. "He's at home making the soup. But we'll need to hurry if we want to get that antidote fast."

"You're right," Courtney replied as she turned to the other two. "Natalie, Sticks, lead the way."

"Alright," Natalie said. "But I must warn you about the dangers of Oak Forest. I heard there were eight little so-called monsters guarding the antidote, and there is a very tall figure with them. I don't know who they are, but I'm not waiting around to find out."

"If that's the way things are right now…" Sticks interrupted, "…then we'll have to FIGHT our way to that cure."

"Of course," Natalie continued. "Comet, you stay here and guard the hut. Wait until Bronze has made the soup, then you can contact me on my radio."

"Will do, Natalie," Comet replied.

As Courtney walked out with Natalie and Sticks, she whispered to them: "'Comet' sounds like a very special name."

"It was given to him ever since childbirth," Natalie replied. "His parents thought that it would be a great name to go along with his cousin's name: Miles Prower."

"You mean…" Courtney suddenly stopped herself and thought about it. "Can he really be Tails' cousin?" But before anyone can answer her, she broke down into tears. "How long has he been so far away from his family?" she thought.

Meanwhile, someone else is also worried about Tails, whose life hangs by a thread. Sonic desperately called Mario's private wire and placed a very urgent call. As they got deeper into their conversation over the phone, Sonic became more and more nervous. "Just keep his heart beating until I arrive with the antidote!" he cried. "And whatever you do, don't let him die!"

After Sonic hung up the phone, he quickly dashed to Knothole Village and told everyone that he was to go out and search for the cure alone. Everyone acknowledged, and so he took off.

"I really hated telling everyone but Sally," Sonic thought as he entered Oak Forest. "Especially since I really want to propose marriage to her."

He ran past the dense forest trees for about five to eight minutes before finally meeting someone. Little did he know that he was going a completely different route than Courtney and the others were going. So, as he sped throughout the forest, he bumped right into another being who was running the exact same speed. They both hit each other as they clashed together, pushing each other down to the ground. They groaned as they grasped their aching heads, struggling to get back up to their feet.

"What the heck are you doing?!" the other life form barked as Sonic caught a full glimpse of him. "That could have killed me!"

"I didn't know!" Sonic replied. "I never knew that someone can run as fast as me! I thought I alone was the fastest thing alive!"

"You're wrong, brother. There's still me."

Sonic kept staring at the other hedgehog; something about him looked awfully familiar, but he could not find out what it was. The hedgehog was dark grey, but with green hair in the front of his head. Stripes of green and red ran around his arms, legs, and quill. Like Sonic, he was bare-chested, and he also had the exact same pair of running shoes Sonic had (except they were green). "Who are you?" Sonic asked him. "And what are you doing here?"

"Would you believe me if I told you, Sonic?" the grey hedgehog replied.

"I'm willing to believe ANYTHING. But we must make this short and quick; my little friend is dying, and if I don't get that antidote, he'll die."

"That's exactly MY mission as well, brother."

"You want help me?"

"Of course! That's what brothers do!"

"Look, if you're going with me on this mission, don't call me 'brother'. It kind of ticks me off."

"But it's TRUE! We were both born the same day to the same hedgehog, but we were separated shortly."

"How do you know this? How do I know you're not lying?"

"Let me explain… My name is Cinos. That's YOUR name spelled backwards. We were both born as twins to the same mother on Christmas Island. Unfortunately, we were separated during a battle in the Great War. The prince of the realm Straggo had kidnapped our parents, including me."

"Prince of Straggo?" Sonic said, tears already coming down his face. "That's Cobra!"

"You are correct," Cinos replied as he continued. "But as he smuggled our parents, he forgot all about you and left you behind. That's when Uncle Chuck found you, and took you in. As for me, I was saved by a very obese man. It was Dr. Eggman, who was working for the king at the time of the war; he was a very skilled war general. He found me and took me to safety, but not before injuring Cobra's eye first."

"That must be how Cobra got his eye patch!" Sonic thought as he listened on to the story.

"But my rescue did not last very long; I remained alive for only about five years. After Eggman became twisted and evil, he had me executed. He did not plan to roboticize me because he thought I would be useless to him. So he killed me instead."

"Why?!" Sonic thought as he gritted his teeth both in sadness and anger. "Why would that madman kill my brother in his prime?!"

"You're probably wondering how I am still alive today after that death sentence. I am not your real brother; I am only a clone created by Dr. Eggman. Just recently, he made me as another 'ultimate life form' that would defeat Shadow the hedgehog and take his place as an assassin. But as Eggman remembered how he murdered the real me years ago, he foolishly restored my memory from years ago. He made me remember who I really am, and who my brother is."

"Cinos…" Sonic at first stuttered, "…Welcome back. I have forgotten about you for so long, I now realize how much I really miss you. Welcome back, brother!"

"But I'm not your REAL brother! I'm only an artificial copy. I'm not the real one who was separated from you many years ago."

"But you have every single gene from my real brother! You look, sound, and act just like him! Heck, you even RUN as fast as him! Since we're practically twins, we can run just as fast together. Come on, brother! Let's go save our friend!"

**SORRY THIS CHAPTER WAS LAME. THE NEXT ONE WILL FINALLY SHOW WHO THOSE EIGHT MONSTERS ARE AND WHO'S GUARDING THE ANTIDOTE PLANT WITH THEM. ALSO, WHO WILL MAKE IT TO THE CURE FIRST, COURTNEY OR SONIC? YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE! STICK AROUND! WE'VE GOT MORE OC's COMING OUR WAY!**


	5. Hedgehog Hunt

Sonic Squad

Season Two, Episode Five

Hedgehog Hunt

By Cole Bezotte

**In our previous chapter, Sonic met with his long-lost brother Cinos the hedgehog. The two of them now embark on their journey to find the antidote that will heal Tails of his severe sickness. Meanwhile, Courtney goes with Natalie the fox and Sticks the jungle badger to find the same cure. Let's see what they are up to now…**

Courtney continued to walk with Natalie and Sticks throughout Oak Forest, searching carefully and desperately for the correct plant that would relieve Tails. "What is the flower even called?" Courtney asked as she looked around herself confusingly.

"The plant has a name that is very difficult to pronounce," Natalie answered in reply. "But everyone calls it the 'Life-Giving Flower'."

"That's a very beautiful name!" Sticks exclaimed after hearing that name.

"Not so loud!" Natalie snapped at her. "We may never know when the enemy comes upon us. Let's get moving quickly before we get caught."

Sticks led Natalie, who led Courtney along the path which seemed to lead correctly to the Life-Giving Flower.

**(Note from the author: I once had a PlayStation All-Stars story with the exact same flower I am using here. Unfortunately, as we all know, that old PSASBR story series had too much blood, gore, violence, and sex in it, and so I trashed it. Now was a chance to use the flower again.)**

They had walked for about ten to twenty minutes before they ran into their first threat. A deadly cobra snake, coiled around the branch of a nearby tree, slowly slithered towards Courtney and hissed softly. Courtney heard the hissing, but did not know where it was coming from. The hissing soon grew louder and faster for everyone to hear, then the cobra leaped down and bit Courtney in her right arm. Courtney screamed in pain as the snake forced his fangs deeper and deeper into her arm.

Natalie and Sticks heard the alarming scream as they leapt into action. Sticks ran quickly toward Courtney, yanked the snake off her arm, and squeezed it very tightly. This gave Natalie the chance to use her hunting machete and slice the cobra's head right off. It was a very clean cut; Sticks dropped the snake's remaining corpse and declared that it was dead.

"Are you alright?" Natalie asked Courtney as she wrapped many layers of gauze on the bleeding arm.

"I don't know…" Courtney whimpered to answer. "I feel as if something is flowing through my blood. It could be a poison."

"Perhaps the flower can cure you of the cobra's venom. We better get there faster if we want to save Tails as well. Come on!"

And speaking of Tails, Mario grew more and more uneasy as he looked down at Tails' dying body. "I don't think he's going to make it," he said as he placed his face in his hands.

Luigi and Professor Elvin Gadd looked at each other. Elvin motioned Luigi to go over to his brother and talk and encourage him. And so he did; he sat next to Mario as they still sat in the operating room, waiting for at least SOMEONE to find the Flower and heal Tails.

"Mario…" Luigi started, "…the more you pull that long face, the more it gets me worried. And I don't want to worry about this little guy. I just KNOW that Sonic will bring that antidote here with his very fast speed. I KNOW that we will win the day and keep Tails living."

"That's what YOU say, Luigi," Mario replied. "But I am very uneasy about this whole dang case. Why isn't the Flower coming to us sooner?!"

"Nothing's impossible, Mario! Just breathe deep, brother! Just breathe deep!"

And as for Sonic and Cinos, their journey was going a bit slower than expected. As they ran as fast as they could to the Flower, Sonic thought more and more about the past he could not shake off. He always had the dark origin of his brother on his mind, never forgetting the awesome moment when Dr. Eggman struck at Count Cobra. Perhaps they were still enemies to this day, (as proven in the first chapter of this season) never forgetting the fight they had in the past.

"Maybe…" Sonic thought deeply as he ran on, "…maybe Eggman still has some good in him? Or am I just going insane?"

Suddenly, Sonic and Cinos saw a strange movement in the deep bushes nearby. The two of them stopped running and went over to the bushes to see what was moving among them. They thought it would be an evildoer spying on what their mission was, but it was actually another hedgehog. A light-blue hedgehog with thick hair popped out of the bushes and stepped out into the clear opening. He wore a red hooded jacket and faded jeans, along with white shoes.

"That's strange," Sonic said as he saw him. "I've never seen a hedgehog do that before. Are you a spy sent here to stop us on our mission?"

"Not at all," the hedgehog replied. "The name is Spike. And I'm not a spy; I've been sent here to help you find the Life-Giving Flower. Although, I felt really nervous when the king asked me to do so. I've been really nervous about hero duty ever since I ditched my mother not too long ago."

"What happened?" Cinos asked him.

"I was born this way, a hedgehog, but I was raised by humans. This young couple brought me in a few days after I was born. I could still remember what happened before I was taken in; I could still see that house on fire… and the screams from my mother…" Tears began to stain Spike's face as he struggled to continue his story. "But ever since those humans found me, I began to consider them as my new parents. I couldn't help it! They were so kind as to keep me as their very own. I wouldn't have a roof over my head if it weren't for them."

"But why did you ditch them?" Sonic asked.

"It was a day when I was very excited. It was the day when Mother was to give birth to her firstborn. I always wanted to have a sibling, hedgehog or not. And yet, I did the one thing I foolishly did. We were on our way to the hospital; I sat in the backseat, comforting Mother until the point when we drove to the bridge. I heard gunfire outside my car window; some assassin was attempting to shoot Mother. I didn't know what grudge that gunman held against her, but I wasn't taking any chances of letting him shoot her.

"Father was shot in the neck. The car stopped right when he was hit, but it wasn't over. Mother was shot as well, and there was no one left alive but me. I remember forcing my car door open, so I was right out in the open. It was just a matter of time before that gunman would shoot ME. Before anything could hit me, I ran straight off the bridge and dove into the water below. That was the biggest mistake I've ever done, leaving my two new loving parents to die without seeing the last of me. I could have saved them when I had the chance; but by then, it was too late.

"After I sank deep into that river, I knew that my parents were gone… gone forever! But it wasn't over; after I went back up to the surface, I asked a young scientist to create a special capsule for me. Whenever I'd press the button on the capsule it would transform me from hedgehog to human. If people saw me, they would arrest me for letting my parents die. And so I wanted to blend in with the public and take the form of a human so people wouldn't recognize me. But my hair would still be a dead giveaway, especially my face looking almost the same. So I used that scientist's portal that led here to Mobius."

"That scientist…" Sonic finally replied, "…is my friend Chris Thorndyke. He lets us use his portal that leads from Earth to Mobius and vice versa. Anyway, after all that you said about that tragedy, I'm certain it's not your fault. I'm sure you didn't mean to leave your parents dying; maybe they WANTED you to escape. Maybe that gunman was heading straight for YOU. But either way, it's not your fault. Come on! We've got to go find that Flower!"

**(Note from the author: You're probably wondering why I'm taking so freaking long to show who's guarding the Flower. Now I'll tell you right here.)**

At the center of Oak Forest, eight little creatures stood around the Life-Giving Flower, as well as a very tall and bulky figure wearing a cape. The Shake King, Wario's old enemy, had forced every single one of the eight Koopalings to guard the Flower and make sure no one collects it. Bowser Jr., along with Larry, Iggy, Lemmy, Wendy, Ludwick, Morton, and Roy Koopa were all placed in specific spots for guarding the plant.

"Why do we have to stay in the same freaking spot for hours?!" Lemmy complained loudly. "My legs are killing me from standing like this!"

"Don't you dare defy my orders!" The Shake King barked back at him. "If you do not cooperate with the plan, then you will never see your father ever again! I've told you at least a million times already!"

"Who's holding our dad anyway?" Jr. asked.

"The great Count Cobra is holding him as a hostage. Your father will be your reward for the job you have been given. Cobra had already retrieved him from Dr. Eggman's lair, and so he will give him to you if you work hard and be patient."

The Koopalings were severely disciplined if they were defiant against the Shake King's orders. If at least one mishap happened, he would smack that misfit's tail.

It was not until much later until an intruder finally came. Sticks jumped right into the open clearing, with Natalie running right in, and Courtney lagging behind. Courtney was still in her condition from the snake bite, so she could hardly stand on both of her feet. The Koopalings were right away alerted when the three girls entered the scene, and so they took out their magic wands for action.

Wendy was the first to use her wand; she planned to cast a magic ring around Sticks. That would give Lemmy the signal to shoot a giant bouncy ball at Sticks after she was caught off guard. But someone already saw the Koopalings' strategy; Sonic soon came in with Cinos and Spike. With their super speed, they snatched a nearby vine (one that Sticks was already using) and ran in a circle, wrapping the vine around the Koopalings and tying them up.

As for the Shake King, Natalie pinned his hands behind his back and cuffed them. "You may have caught me so easily…" the Shake King said as he was being cuffed, "…but you will never defeat the mighty Cobra! He already brings you a message."

Natalie reached into the Shake King's pocket and pulled out a holographic message receiver. She tossed it onto the ground, allowing it to open Cobra's holographic message. As the message was starting, Sonic quickly rubbed the Life-Giving Flower (now in his possession) on Courtney's wound. It healed her very quickly, and so it gave her hopes for healing Tails and saving him from his near death.

Cobra's message played: "I see you have found the Flower, young Spike. You would never believe the burning anger I harbor for you. You must surely be haunted by the memory of the time when you thought your beloved parents had 'died'. But they were never dead! I was that gunman who shot them! I assigned the assassination assignment to my former apprentice Courtney, but she refused. That was the day before I tried forcing her to kill Miles Prower.

"I was enraged by Courtney's defiance, I almost wanted to kill her. But I had a good reason to shoot you; I knew that you were the hedgehog that chose to stay on Earth among humans. With Sonic out of the way, you were only a lone target with no special speed like him. Your adopted father was a strong FBI agent; after shooting him in the neck, I thought he was dead. But he quickly shot back at me, then he snatched his wife from the car and ran towards the nearest police car. They made it to the hospital just in time. I swore I heard them asking where you went."

That was all Cobra said in the message, then the hologram faded away. Spike could never believe his ears; he had just heard the real truth about what had happened that day he thought he had abandoned his parents to die. Now he was more than willing to go back to Earth and apologize for ditching his parents; he was ready to ask for forgiveness.

**SORRY THE BATTLE SCENE WAS TOO SHORT!**

**NEXT TIME: WILL THE LIFE-GIVING FLOWER HEAL TAILS AS IT HAD SUCCESSFULLY HEAD COURTNEY? OR WILL COBRA RETURN TO STRIKE HIS ENEMIES DOWN WITH VENGEANCE?**

**HERE, I WILL GIVE A CODE WORD THAT GIVES A SURPRISE FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER: PINGAS!**


	6. Among Us, Villains Stalk

Sonic Squad

Season Two, Episode Six

Among Us, Villains Stalk

By Cole Bezotte

**Note from the author: Sorry the rest of this Sonic Squad series isn't going so well. I'm running out of ideas.**

Sonic and Courtney were desperate to heal Tails from his severe sickness. He was just about to die, but Mario was worried about it more than anyone else. Every other minute, he would look over him and see how terrible he looked.

Now was the chance to finally relieve him of the death he was so close to. Sonic rushed into the patient room with the Life-Giving Flower, eager to use it and save Tails. "I have it right here!" he exclaimed as he handed it to Mario. "Quick! How can we use it?!"

"We rub it on his chest," Mario replied as he held the Flower tightly in his hand. "Its magic will take the disease away forever!" And so, he began to rub it on Tails' chest; as he rubbed on, heavy hope stirred up in his heart for success.

Courtney watched with tears streaming down her face. She too hoped that Tails would stay alive once he was treated with the Flower. "Please don't die…" she softly whispered. "I need you…"

Mario was finished rubbing Tails with the flower, then he backed away to see the results. He at first saw nothing, but then he saw a big change. Tails' fur changed back to its true yellow color, and so only his physical wounds still remained.

"Miles…" Mario said to him. "Miles, can you hear me? Miles! Wake up!" Tails did not answer; he was still out cold.

Then Mario tried something different: "Tails! Tails, can you hear me?" He started using Tails' usual nickname instead of his real name. Tails has always hated the name Miles Prower; it sounded somewhat impolite to him. Tails sounded like a better name; he thought it sounded like people actually wanted to be his friend.

After Mario said Tails' name for the final time, Tails finally stirred and woke up. He was finally relieved of his sickness. "What happened?" he whimpered as he rubbed his eyes. "It felt like I was cut open…"

Everyone was happy to see that Tails had survived his close death. "We're glad to have you back, Tails!" Sonic said as he hugged him. "You were just about to die before we revived you."

"I WHAT?!" Tails exclaimed.

"Please don't tell him any of the details," Luigi whispered to Mario. "I'm sure he won't like it."

"He won't like it just as he doesn't like his real name," Mario replied. "But still, everything is back to normal."

"Not really…" Courtney thought. "Bronze will be here any moment with the soup he promised."

**(Note from the author: You probably forgot who Bronze the fox is. He was first mentioned a couple of chapters back by Tails' cousin Comet Prower.)**

After Sonic left to meet up with his brother in the hallway, Tails stirred to face Courtney. "Courtney…" he whimpered. "There is something I really want to say."

"Go ahead, Tails," Courtney replied. "I'm all ears."

"I just wanted to say that I'm very sorry for what I did to you. I'm sure it hurt you more than it hurt me. My mind went completely insane."

"It's not all your fault, Tails; you did not choose to attack me. And I'm sure, one day, we will avenge our families' deaths and defeat Cobra once and for all."

As Courtney and Tails forgave each other, Sonic walked with Cinos out of the hospital as they spoke of what Spike had done before delivering the Flower. "Where is he now?" Cinos asked Sonic. "Did he go back to Earth?"

"He did," Sonic answered in reply. "Since he now knows the truth, he can now live with his parents again. I'm sure he has reunited with them by now, as well as their new baby. He must be totally happy to finally have a sibling."

Meanwhile, we find grim and foreboding the secret laboratory of Dr. Eggman. He had indeed escaped from Mobotropolis' prison, just as King Max had predicted.

**(Note from the author: If you remember from the second chapter of this season, Cobra had broken out of the prison and formed a complete breakout. Three of the prisoners whom had escaped include Dr. Eggman, Wario, and Waluigi.)**

Inside the lab, everything was very quiet with only Waluigi in the computer room. He had just heard the toilet flush in the bathroom, and out came Wario (who did not wash his hands after using the toilet). Wario looked around the room and spotted something new hidden in the corner; he saw a machine that looked like it was created by the hands of Dr. Eggman himself. "What is dat?" Wario asked Waluigi.

"I don't know…" Waluigi replied, "…but I wouldn't touch that if I were you."

Ignoring Waluigi's suggestion, Wario walked over to the machine and was just about to place a chubby finger on it. But right when he was about to, he heard a familiar-sounding scream stop him. "Stop!" said the voice. "Don't touch my PINGAS!"

Wario turned and saw Dr. Eggman running towards him. "I wanted to introduce you to that personally," he said as he pushed Wario aside. "This machine is very fragile and very important! It's supposed to replace my stolen Egg Timer, but it can do a lot more this time."

"I already heard how it's designed," Waluigi said to Eggman. "I hear you'll be causing some dark futures."

"Snooping as usual, I see," Eggman replied. "Get a life!"

"Eggman…" Wario started. "Have you been taking steroids lately? You've lost a lot of fat dere."

"If I am to become the world's greatest genius…" Eggman replied, "…I'll need to stay in top shape. But anyway, allow me to introduce you to my new invention. It's called the PINGAS. It stands for Powerful Intelligent Neutron-Generated Assault System. It's not only supposed to control time, but it can also kill anyone who dreams about a great future. For example, if I assassinate Sonic once and for all, he will never be able to become king of Mobius! The kingdom will be MINE instead!"

"How does it kill?"

"I'll show you…" Dr. Eggman pointed the machine at Orbot and Cubot, who were standing nearby. It only took the press of a button to cause a sniper rifle to rise out of the main power box. The sniper, held by a robotic arm, quickly aimed at Orbot, locking on target. Eggman pressed the same button to control the sniper's fire and make it shoot Orbot in the chest, destroying his joints' power.

"I can't feel myself anymore!" Orbot exclaimed as Cubot looked over him.

"See?" Eggman said. "This thing not only works on life-forms, but also robots as well. Orbot is now stiff as a board, and so it proves that this machine is a success. The sniper can fire at pinpoint accuracy, able to kill ANYTHING. So come on, gentlemen! Let's go wreck some time!"

That night, Tails was well enough to go back to his hut at Knothole Village. Although, he was a bit disappointed when he had to go to bed early; the others knew that Dr. Eggman would strike early the next day.

"Do I have to go to bed so soon?" Tails complained as Luigi led him to his bedroom.

"Well, like they say in Brooklyn: early to bed, early to catch the worm," Luigi replied. "Or… is it the bagel?"

"Can you PLEASE tell me a bedtime story? It's been a long time since I listened to Sally tell some great tales!"

"Okay, okay. Well, it all started when Mario, the princess and I took a vacation to Dinosaur World after we had banished Bowser from the Mushroom Kingdom…"

As Luigi told his story, Courtney overhead everything from outside the hut. She was glad that Tails was back to his normal self and that he could fight again. But something still worried her; Cobra was still alive, and so was Dr. Eggman. If any of them would attack, Courtney would need to give Tails her full protection.

Indeed Eggman had struck the next day just as he planned. He brought his PINGAS with him, hoping to change the future of all his enemy Freedom Fighters. He pressed a simple button to activate the sniper rifle, in which he aimed it directly towards Sonic. Sonic began to run his fastest speed, trying to avoid the sniper's tracking. It was only difficult by a very small margin, but the sniper kept its focus on Sonic the entire time.

"You better get ready, you stubborn little hedgehog!" Eggman said as he prepared to pull the trigger. "It's time to say goodbye to your future!"

As Sonic ran on, Mario and Luigi prepared for their part of the action. But after seeing the very difficult tactics Sonic had to use in order to avoid Eggman's fire, they were somewhat nervous. "This doesn't look good for Sonic," Mario said as he pulled out his plunger. "What should we do?"

"I think it's time for me to send my secret weapon," Luigi replied, smiling.

"Luigi, you didn't tell me you have a secret weapon!"

"That's MAMA Luigi to you, Mario!" Luigi chuckled.

Even Knuckles saw how much trouble Sonic was in. "No one's gonna leave me out of the action!" he said as he quickly ran towards Wario.

Wario was totally aware of Knuckles' move, he spun around and punched him in the chest. "Sorry, dude!" he taunted. "But you're not as light as you used to be!"

"I'm tired of being a wimp like you and your brother!" Knuckles replied. "This is who I am!"

Dr. Eggman saw what was going on, and so he had an idea. First, he sent Waluigi to attack any of the other Freedom Fighters, then he set the PINGAS to its automatic settings. The machine worked by itself without anyone controlling it, giving Eggman the opportunity to go attack anyone else.

But it gave someone else a chance to do something as well. Tails acted as Luigi's "secret weapon" and snuck behind the PINGAS, hoping to deactivate it and expose it of its secrets. But the sniper had a very strong sensor, and so it knew who was behind it as well. The sniper turned around to aim at Tails and fired, but Tails quickly held up his wrench right before it could hit him. The sniper's bullet bounced off the wrench and went back to itself. With the gun destroyed, Tails could now deactivate the PINGAS and defeat Dr. Eggman.

And yet, something stopped Tails in his tracks. He still wanted to know the secrets it carried, and so he would know what the future would be like if the battle had been won by either Eggman or the Freedom Fighters. He searched and examined the machine, trying to find a special place where the future is told. And find it he did, locked in a secret box. There was a giant lock on it, as well as a "DO NOT OPEN" sign. Tails stared deep into the lock, then looked back at his wrench. His wrench's head was the perfect size and shape needed to open the lock; tempted and anxious, he went right ahead to open the box.

But right when he did, a glowing yellow light shot right into his eyes. The future was entering his mind; he was beginning to know all of it. It seemed happy at first, but things began to fall apart later on…

Meanwhile, Eggman was soon captured again, along with his two comrades. "I guess a lot of Freedom Fighters like us beat a simple trio of unfit people," Sonic teased as he handed them to King Max.

"Thank you for all your help," Max said as he took the three prisoners back to Mobotropolis. "I really appreciate you all fighting hard like the knights you must be."

Courtney felt glad for this victory, but one thing still worried her. "Where is Tails?" she asked herself as she looked around searching for him.

"The last time I saw him…" Knuckles answered in reply, "…he was over at Eggman's new machine. He managed to dismantle it, but he stayed there for a while. Why didn't he leave?"

Courtney rushed over to the PINGAS, still standing at the village's entrance. She did not see Tails at first, but then her vision cleared. She soon saw him slowly walking towards her; his expression was not happy at all.

"I just saw the future…" Tails whimpered, "…and it's not pretty!"

**NEXT CHAPTER, THE FUTURE SHALL BE REVEALED! AND THE SERIES SHALL BE OVER!**


	7. Dark Future

Sonic Squad

Season Two, Episode Seven

The Dark Future

By Cole Bezotte

**Note from the author: This is the final chapter of the Sonic Squad series. This was going very good until it all turned into crap! I'm just going to finish this here and now and get it over with. Thank you!**

Courtney embraced Tails as he cried heavily over her shoulder. "The future…" he whimpered, "…it's not as I want it to be!"

"What do you mean?" Courtney asked in reply. "What will happen?"

"I can't say it. I'm too afraid to reveal it."

"I… I understand. Why don't you go lie down and rest. You look very stressed out."

"Okay… I will…"

That night, Courtney snuck into Tails' hut to find the secret that he had hid from him. But the minute she stepped into his room, she almost had second thoughts about the idea. She had just heard an argument between Mario and Luigi; Mario was upset about Luigi sending Tails to dismantle the PINGAS machine, since it got him into some big trouble.

"What were you thinking, you idiot?!" Mario shouted, easily heard from the distance. "You sent him down there only to make things worse! Were you seriously trying to kill him?!"

"It was only a mistake!" Luigi protested. "I know opportunity when I see it! But I never expected Tails to experience something terrible about it."

"I wish I know what's going on in that head of his."

Courtney wished the exact same thing; now was her chance to know what Tails had seen.

She loomed over Tails in his bed. Placing her hands on his sleeping head, she concentrated really hard and used her powers to pry herself into his thoughts.

And just like that, she was inside his head. Her ghostly form walked around inside Tails' dream as her physical form stayed where she was outside. Courtney right away found the future that Tails had seen earlier that day… when everything went wrong.

She witnessed what was to happen ten years later. A new war broke out as Plague, king of Straggo, struck at his rival Mobians. Straggo and Mobius were now bitter enemy planets; spaceships were constantly built to compose an aerial assault on either planet, or a battle in outer space. Plague now wished to take the throne of Mobius by force. Sonic and Sally had already become the new king and queen, and their son and daughter Manik and Sonia were the prince and princess.

Tails, on the other hand, was a skilled soldier and still an expert pilot. For every plane that was too small for him as he grew up, he always made a new one with the correct size for him. He had grown into a much taller fox with thicker hair and bushier tails. He promised to marry Courtney once the war was over; he had fallen deeply in love with her.

During the battle at the Great Forest, Tails had landed his new plane in an almost inaccessible area. This was where Sonic and Knuckles currently fought the army of charging Straggons. This was unlike any other battle on Mobius; the Mobians were no longer dealing with Dr. Eggman's robots. There was now more bloodshed coming from blue aliens killing many innocent animals. But for every moment of trouble came the fastest hedgehog alive. Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails fought diligently against the raging savage aliens that desired to conquer the peaceful planet.

Tails did not know who was among these Straggons until something very big happened. He suddenly saw Sonic being thrown back by some supernatural force. But after Sonic landed, Tails immediately noticed some blood on his chest; Sonic had been slashed by a very sharp blade. Tails went over to him and knelt down to stroke his chest.

"You must go…" Sonic whimpered in pain. "I don't think I can make it here…"

"Don't give up now, Sonic!" Tails replied. "You're my best friend, and I will NOT leave you here to die!"

Tails was about to pick up Sonic and place him over his shoulder, but he suddenly caught sight of something from a distance. He saw a familiar-looking Straggon wearing a black torn cape and holding a razor-sharp sword. "Cobra!" Tails exclaimed in anger.

"I'm surprised you remember me," Cobra teased in reply. "But will you even remember the first one you've ever loved?"

Tails gasped heavily after hearing that; he really did remember his first love Cosmo from many years ago. "Don't remind me…" he whimpered as heavy sweat streamed down his head.

"But I MUST. After all, Courtney doesn't even know you are still grieving over Cosmo's death. You still are the emotional young fox you once were."

"Don't… listen to him…" Sonic whispered behind Tails. "I know both Courtney AND Cosmo will forgive you for your decisions. They know you are still a very honest man."

"He's right…!" Tails exclaimed. "I won't listen to you, Cobra! You've been ruining our lives and poisoning our minds! And I won't let you lay a hand on anyone else again!"

"That's only what you THINK," Cobra replied. "Everyone in your pitiful Freedom Fighter group has been treating you like a young one all your life. They hardly even know you are itching to get in on the action they hog to. How does that make you feel?"

"Stop lying, Cobra!"

"You would know exactly what I mean once you see THIS!" Cobra pointed with his sword towards someone lying on the ground. It was Courtney; she was stabbed and killed by a vicious Straggon.

Quickly and desperately, Tails ran over to Courtney. With tears rapidly streaming down his face, he placed his hand on her chest. Her heart was not beating; she was dead. Tails could not believe what was happening; his biggest hopes and dreams were now crushed.

"I am not responsible for her death," Cobra said to Tails. "Join me, and together we can rule the universe as master and apprentice! Take your rightful place as a true warrior! You can take what you want, even if it is revenge! I can even help you save your loved ones!"

"No!" Sonic exclaimed as he struggled back up to his feet rushed towards Cobra. "I won't let you take him!"

Cobra was already aware of Sonic's surprise attack; he quickly turned around to strike at him again. But little did he know that someone would act as Sonic's shield; Tails got in the way and took the slash instead of Sonic. "The fool!" Cobra thought. "Why did he do it!? I could have given him ANYTHING, but he chooses DEATH instead!"

Blood spurted from Tails' chest as he went down to the ground. "TAILS!" Sonic screamed. He ran to him, more stressed than Tails once was. "Tails! Please don't die! I NEED YOU!"

Tails struggled to open back up his eyes; perhaps this was the last time he would ever see his best friend Sonic in his life. "Don't try to stop it…" Tails whimpered with his dying breath. "I'm doing this for you, Courtney, and all my friends…"

"But you're too young to die!" Sonic replied. "I never expected this!"

"Neither did I… but it's for the better. I saved you just as you would save ME. Go now… Sonic… win this war for me… always remember me…" And that was all Tails said before he breathed his last breath and died.

That was all Courtney wanted to see before she exited Tails' mind. She had now seen the dark future that Tails had witnessed and kept secret. She wept bitterly as she left his hut, heading back to hers. Now she was very desperate to find a way to change what would become the bitter end.

The next morning, Courtney woke Tails up early and before anyone else was awake. "Why are we awake at so early of a time?" Tails asked as Courtney walked him outside the village.

"I have something very important to tell you," Courtney answered in reply, looking very sad. "I saw everything you know about the future."

"You WHAT?!"

"I can't let that future happen. I can't let you give up hope and let yourself die. That's why we have Eggman's invention to help fix all that up."

"Really? How?"

Courtney led Tails over to the PINGAS machine and explained what the plan was. "I can't believe we're doing this…" Courtney continued, "…but it's time to end the life of Cobra once and for all."

"You mean…" Tails replied "…you're going to KILL HIM?!"

"I'm very sorry, but it's the way things have to be. He's the reason our future will be ruined. It's time we finally say our last good-bye to him."

"I don't know why, but I'm following along with you."

"Thank you, Tails. You are my best friend. For now, I'll need you to change the command sensor and repair the sniper."

And Tails did so. With his wrench, he changed the sensor for the machine to obey his commands. After repairing the sniper, he commanded it to aim in the exact direction of where Cobra was located. And it obeyed; Cobra was right out in the open at the moment, walking towards the Great Forest.

"It's all ready," Tails said. "Fire when ready."

"I'm sorry, my former master…" Courtney whispered to herself, "…but this is for your own good."

Tails covered his ears after setting the sniper's coordinates to aim at Cobra. Then a loud bang came from the gun as its bullet shot in the exact direction as planned. All Tails and Courtney could hear was a loud roar coming from a distance; the scream came from Cobra. He was dead, with all his hopes and dreams destroyed.

Now Tails and Courtney could hope for a better future that will soon await them. "Wait a minute!" Courtney said suddenly. "I feel something flowing to my index finger. Now I remember! On my home planet Corlon, there is something special given to every adopted child. When a female Corlonian takes in an orphan, an inky fluid reaches from her arm to her index finger. She needs only to cut her finger open and spread the fluid on the child's forehead. It will give him a special mark, showing that he is now part of her family."

"But your race is gone now," Tails replied sadly. "There's no one whom you can place the mark on."

"There is one thing I can still do." With that, Courtney knelt down, picked up a sharp piece of metal (chipped off of the PINGAS), and used it to cut her finger open. The inky fluid immediately began to show, and so she stroked Tails' forehead with it. "I'll be using this for my own purpose, though," she continued. "That mark will show that you are mine, my first love…"

After the village was repaired with all damages removed, it was time for Mario, Luigi, and Shadow to return to Brooklyn. Christopher was back to being his full human self again, and so he was able to think straight and reactivate the portal. Mario had heard news that Bowser had returned from the Straggon zone in which he was held captive; now he planned to go back to the Mushroom Kingdom and attempt again to take the hand of Princess Peach.

As for Sonic, he promised to take Sally Acorn's hand in marriage once they reached the proper age. King Max had already agreed, leaving Antoine D'Coolette and Amy Rose in jealousy. But a deal was a deal, and so Sonic and Sally were soon to become the new rulers of Mobius, just like the future revealed. This was to be a GOOD future, unlike what Tails had seen. Now that Cobra was dead, a much better life waited for our heroes.

As for Tails, he began to fully like Courtney. And Courtney liked him the same way.

**WELL, THAT'S THE END OF SONIC SQUAD. THIS WHOLE BLAMED THING STARTED IN MAY 2011, AND ENDED HERE. EVEN THOUGH THERE WERE SO MANY OTHER IDEAS FOR THE SERIES, I TRASHED MOST OF THEM. BUT I STILL WANT TO THANK YOU FOR READING WHAT WAS LEFT OF IT.**

**I ALSO WANT TO THANK MY OLDER BROTHER FORREST BEZOTTE FOR GIVING ME SOME IDEAS AND EDITING, AND MY YOUNGER BROTHER HUDSON FOR HIS HELP IN THIS AS WELL.**

**I ALSO WANT TO THANK MY FRIENDS ISAAC AND KAL BOSWELL FOR BEING THE FIRST TO DRAW FUNNY FAN ART OF THE SERIES, AS WELL AS GIVING ME SOME GREAT IDEAS. THANKS TO FERNANDO JIMENEZ AS WELL FOR BEING A GREAT CONSULTANT.**

**I HOPE YOU ENJOYED SONIC SQUAD!**


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